I was in Beijing in 2009. Make sure to have some Baozi for breakfast! Yummy!

Cool! What was your business in Beijing?! A conference? I have had Baozi, (like dumplings for all of you who don't know) at a market closeby called Ito Yukado. Definitely something to try if you ever visit.

_________________"I don't know what music is, but I know it when I hear it." - Alan SchuylerRiley Tucker

Business in Beijing was for my wife and I to visit our son and daughter-in-law, who went as newlyweds for 2-years to study Mandarin Chinese (<edited>). Anyway, 4-months into their marriage she became pregnant, so my grandson was literally "made in China"! One of the most peculiar things there is it seems no driver is allowed (not literally) to drive with engine RPM above ~2500-3000: they always shift gears as soon as possible. Another is the motorized rick-shaws, aka "death taxi's." Went to restaurant and my daughter-in-law spoke to the guy, and he comes back moments later with a big live fish in a net to show her, they speak, and later it's on our table over a live fire. Yummy! My FB cover picture shows me, my wife and my son on "the wall." Of course we saw the "Forbidden City" and other sites. One cool thing is that when you go to the movies, you buy a particular seat. I saw Avatar there with my son; it of course had Chinese subtitles. Order any food delivered, whether Chinese food (soups come in just plastic bags) or McDonalds. You must try the "numbing spice," which is meant for flavoring only but not to be chewed itself. Bite it and your tonge and mouth go numb (I know 'cause they hadn't warned me). When we were there In January, it was bitterly cold and VERY windy. Enjoy!

_________________Eddy M. del Rio, MD"A smattering will not do. They must know all the keys, major and minor, and they must literally 'know them backwards.'" - Josef Lhevinne

Last edited by musical-md on Wed Dec 05, 2012 2:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

Business in Beijing was for my wife and I to visit our son and daughter-in-law, who went as newlyweds for 2-years to study Mandarin Chinese (<edited>). Anyway, 4-months into their marriage she became pregnant, so my grandson was literally "made in China"! One of the most peculiar things there is it seems no driver is allowed (not literally) to drive with engine RPM above ~2500-3000: they always shift gears as soon as possible. Another is the motorized rick-shaws, aka "death taxi's." Went to restaurant and my daughter-in-law spoke to the guy, and he comes back moments later with a big live fish in a net to show her, they speak, and later it's on our table over a live fire. Yummy! My FB cover picture shows me, my wife and my son on "the wall." Of course we saw the "Forbidden City" and other sites. One cool thing is that when you go to the movies, you buy a particular seat. I saw Avatar there with my son; it of course had Chinese subtitles. Order any food delivered, whether Chinese food (soups come in just plastic bags) or McDonalds. You must try the "numbing spice," which is meant for flavoring only but not to be chewed itself. Bite it and your tonge and mouth go numb (I know 'cause they hadn't warned me). When we were there In January, it was bitterly cold and VERY windy. Enjoy!

Oh I forgot! First thing upon arrival at my son's area, check in with the police. Last thing before leaving, check out with the police.

_________________Eddy M. del Rio, MD"A smattering will not do. They must know all the keys, major and minor, and they must literally 'know them backwards.'" - Josef Lhevinne

Last edited by musical-md on Wed Dec 05, 2012 2:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

I know....you'd think that at my age I would not need to be reminded of that. Talk about learning a lesson the hard way! I will NEVER do that again....

btw Riley, what's it like in China these days? It's almost 60 in Chicago this weekend....and it's December! Isn't that crazy?

Monica, sorry to hear about your burns. I've done it before. One night, had just taken a casserole out of the oven, took the glass lid off, but didn't set it securely on the stove. It satrted to fall and I caught it with both hands. Burnt 4 fingers on one hand and 3 on the other. Fortunately, I had an aloe vera plant in the kitchen (always have since I lived in Texas). I kept cutting of leaves, slicing them open and slathering the aloe juice all over my fingers. By bed time, the pain had dulled a bit. By morning, it was just annoying. To top it off, I only ended up with one small blister on one finger, and it didn't last long. Always have an aloe in the kitchen -- it is also good for cuts. Don't mess with the processed stuff, the unprocessed juice of the plant is much better -- and cheaper since the plant will keep growing.

The weather was something else here last week. But, I get nervous when we start hitting 60's in December in Illinois. 41 years ago on the 15th (my birthday) a tornado struck our high school and new junior high. It damaged the roof of the new gym. We ended up with three and a half weeks of Christmas vacation and didn't get to graduate until mid-June. We had never had to deal with that many snow days.

Wow. That sounds like it was a great trip. And yes I've had to go check out at the police station when I first got here. They do have a lot of rules here

@ Monica

I don’t think that the baozi would survive the trip, better to have them fresh. Alternatively you could apply for a visa, fly here and try them, served to perfection by the locals, of course! How about it? (feel free to just think about it)

@ Scott

That's wild that you had to make up all of those snow days. Its amazing how crazy Some storms are, so far inland. A few summers ago there was a huge “inland hurricane” that hit Carbondale, IL and destroyed a lot of campus. This was some time ago, then there of course was that storm that hit Harrisburg earlier this year...

_________________"I don't know what music is, but I know it when I hear it." - Alan SchuylerRiley Tucker

Monica, sorry to hear about your burns. I've done it before. One night, had just taken a casserole out of the oven, took the glass lid off, but didn't set it securely on the stove. It satrted to fall and I caught it with both hands. Burnt 4 fingers on one hand and 3 on the other. Fortunately, I had an aloe vera plant in the kitchen (always have since I lived in Texas). I kept cutting of leaves, slicing them open and slathering the aloe juice all over my fingers. By bed time, the pain had dulled a bit. By morning, it was just annoying. To top it off, I only ended up with one small blister on one finger, and it didn't last long. Always have an aloe in the kitchen -- it is also good for cuts. Don't mess with the processed stuff, the unprocessed juice of the plant is much better -- and cheaper since the plant will keep growing.

Thanks, Scott. It's all better now, the last of the burned skin came off yesterday. That sounds terrible what happened to you! I can see something like that happening. I feel very very dumb now, though, because I actually have an aloe vera plant in my kitchen. It's in a flower pot by the window next to the sink. It's been sitting there for decades really. (that's true! They are impossible to kill). I just didn't think about it when that accident happened. Big duh to me!!

Scott wrote:

The weather was something else here last week. But, I get nervous when we start hitting 60's in December in Illinois. 41 years ago on the 15th (my birthday) a tornado struck our high school and new junior high. It damaged the roof of the new gym. We ended up with three and a half weeks of Christmas vacation and didn't get to graduate until mid-June. We had never had to deal with that many snow days.Scott

I know, it's been crazy weather. But now it's cold again and they say we may have snow next week! But I hope we have a winter like last year, which was extremely mild! Global warming is not so bad....

pianoman342 wrote:

@ Monica

I don’t think that the baozi would survive the trip, better to have them fresh. Alternatively you could apply for a visa, fly here and try them, served to perfection by the locals, of course! How about it? (feel free to just think about it)

OK, I will come there.....you will pay for the plane ticket since you have a job, right?

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

Monica, sorry to hear about your burns. I've done it before. One night, had just taken a casserole out of the oven, took the glass lid off, but didn't set it securely on the stove. It satrted to fall and I caught it with both hands. Burnt 4 fingers on one hand and 3 on the other. Fortunately, I had an aloe vera plant in the kitchen (always have since I lived in Texas). I kept cutting of leaves, slicing them open and slathering the aloe juice all over my fingers. By bed time, the pain had dulled a bit. By morning, it was just annoying. To top it off, I only ended up with one small blister on one finger, and it didn't last long. Always have an aloe in the kitchen -- it is also good for cuts. Don't mess with the processed stuff, the unprocessed juice of the plant is much better -- and cheaper since the plant will keep growing.

Thanks, Scott. It's all better now, the last of the burned skin came off yesterday. That sounds terrible what happened to you! I can see something like that happening. I feel very very dumb now, though, because I actually have an aloe vera plant in my kitchen. It's in a flower pot by the window next to the sink. It's been sitting there for decades really. (that's true! They are impossible to kill). I just didn't think about it when that accident happened. Big duh to me!!

Scott wrote:

The weather was something else here last week. But, I get nervous when we start hitting 60's in December in Illinois. 41 years ago on the 15th (my birthday) a tornado struck our high school and new junior high. It damaged the roof of the new gym. We ended up with three and a half weeks of Christmas vacation and didn't get to graduate until mid-June. We had never had to deal with that many snow days.Scott

I know, it's been crazy weather. But now it's cold again and they say we may have snow next week! But I hope we have a winter like last year, which was extremely mild! Global warming is not so bad....

I became use to the healing qualities of aloe when I lived in S. Texas. The plant was practically a weed at times. Once, I dug one up that was to close to the house and ended up with about 20 good sized plants plus at least a hundred pups. I found a place to plant the big ones and ended up just sticking most of the pups in a pot -- WITHOUT SOIL. Three years later I gave a bunch of those pots of pups to a friend. They do get most of their moisture from the air.

At the moment, though, I am managing to kill an aloe. Bought it last year from our church bazarre for $.50. A year later I decided to replant it because the pot was always too small. It has not been doing well since. Not sure if the soil is too dense or acid (our soil was alkalai), or what. I finally pulled it out of the dirt until I can figure out what to do. It is doing better.

As far as the global warming, yes, last winter was decent. We only had one real snow. But we only had about two real rains this summer. We are in a drought right now. If we don't get more moisture, you won't need to move to be in the Arizona desert.

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